Not applicable.
This invention relates to an apparatus for cleaning bath and shower enclosures.
The walls and doors of bath and shower enclosures can become mildewed, or coated with soap build up and hard water and mineral deposits, after extended periods of use. Removing these deposits and stains normally requires one to scrub the walls and doors by hand, which is an undesirable task. A cleaning solution can be used to reduce the amount of scrubbing needed.
Cleansers (e.g. a surfactant containing formula) are typically sprayed onto the walls and, after allowing the active ingredients time to work, the walls are wiped with a cloth, brush, or scrubbing pad and then rinsed with water to remove dirt and the cleanser residue. However, some cleansers have been developed and marketed that can remove deposits without the need to scrub the walls. These cleansers have been sprayed onto the walls after the enclosure has been used, and then allowed time to work. See generally, WO 96/22346 and WO 98/02511. The assignee of the present invention, S. C. Johnson and Son, Inc., also sells shower cleaners that act without the need for scrubbing.
One technique used for applying the no-scrub, no-rinse cleansers, for example, is to keep a pump spray bottle of the cleanser in or near the shower enclosure so that one can spray down the walls of the shower enclosure after showering. However, this requires a consumer to spend the time and effort to spray down the walls.
Some systems have been developed to reduce the labor involved in enclosure cleaning. U.S. Pat. No. 4,872,225 discloses a sprayer and conduit system for a bath and shower enclosure in fluid communication with the water supply to a shower head. Supply water is directed to the showerhead or diverted to the sprayer for cleaning the enclosure. A container of cleanser is mounted in the shower enclosure for introducing cleanser (through an injector assembly) into the conduit for spraying cleanser on the walls. A drawback with this system is that the user must manually turn on the supply water (if not already on), adjust the diverter, squeeze cleanser into the sprayer and shut off the water after the walls have been washed. There is also some risk that the consumer will be sprayed with the cleanser.
Other systems are more elaborate, such as that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,383,341, which includes multiple pop-out spray nozzles connected by a manifold to a mixing valve where cleaning concentrate is mixed with water. U.S. Pat. No. 5,452,485 discloses an automatic cleaning device for a tub and shower having large, powered tub and shower xe2x80x9cglidersxe2x80x9d that move in tracks around the tub and shower stall, respectively. The gliders are coupled to the water supply, which is mixed with a cleanser. The gliders have spray heads for spraying the cleaning solution on the tub and shower walls. The gliders also have brushes for scrubbing the walls. A user operates the gliders and cleanser mixing by a central controller. These systems are disadvantageous because they are large, unsightly, expensive and can require considerable installation time and cost.
Accordingly, there exists a need in the art for an improved system for automatically spraying down a bath and shower enclosure.
The invention provides a device for automatically spraying the walls of a bath and shower enclosure with a shower cleanser.
One aspect of the invention is a sprayer that automatically turns itself off. The sprayer includes a container containing cleanser. A metering system controls flow of the cleanser from the container to a spray head for spraying the cleanser during a spray cycle initiated by the user via a control. The control automatically terminates the spray cycle.
In a preferred form, the spray has an electronic timer initiated by a switch for beginning the spray cycle. When a user wishes to begin a spray cycle, he or she depresses a button on the front of the sprayer. This initiates a countdown delaying spraying for a predetermined time, such as twenty seconds. This affords the user time to exit the shower enclosure and close the doors or curtains. It also gives the user time to abort the spray cycle by pressing the button a second time.
Preferably, a user notification system, including audio and visual alarms, is activated during the countdown to signal to the user the impending operation of the sprayer. Unless cancelled, the spraying cycle begins automatically at the expiration of the countdown. At that point, another countdown (preferably 20 seconds) can be initiated automatically by the timer after which the spray cycle is concluded without further input.
In another form, the sprayer is designed to work with replaceable bottles of cleanser commercially available from retail outlets. The container is a tray conforming to the upper portion of a container to accept an inverted container. A bottle of cleanser is inverted and set into the tray with the lid removed. The tray can have an upward projection or spike at the base of the tray for puncturing the inner seal covering the mouth of the bottle.
The mouth may have two parallel passages, one of which has a restriction at an upstream end to improve venting. The container and piercing post are constructed and arranged so that if the container is positioned in an assembled state with the piercing post, and then removed from the piercing post, the resulting construct will not permit re-assembly in a defect-free manner. This reduces the likelihood of a consumer refilling the container with inappropriate chemicals.
The automated sprayer invention can be practiced using a variety of metering valves and spray heads. For example, the sprayer can include a single motorized head including a dispensing cup disposed about the longitudinal axis of the sprayer and covered by an annular lid with a central opening through which an axial tube extends into the cup. The lid is attached to the cup at points spaced around the rim such that when the head is rotating, cleanser in the cup is forced by centrifugal force between the cup and the lid to spray outward. As the level of cleanser in the cup decreases, additional cleanser can pass through the tube into the cup. When the head is not rotating, cleanser can pass through the tube until the level in the cup reaches the opening of the tube.
The head can also include a ball valve disposed in the tube and seatable on a valve seat defined by the inner diameter of the tube. Seating of the ball valve can be controlled by the level of cleanser in the cup such that when it is empty or when cleanser is sprayed out of the cup, the ball valve opens, closing only when the level of cleanser in the cup is high enough so that the floating ball rests against the seat.
Alternatively, the ball valve can be operated by a pushpin attached to an inertial valve, for example. In particular, the inertial valve includes upper and lower plates hinged together and having one or more weights that are driven outward by centrifugal force when the plates are rotated along the axis so as to move the plates apart. The inertial valve has the pushpin attached to the upper plate along the axis for raising and unseating the ball valve as the plates move apart.
Other alternate forms of the head could be used. For example, the head can include a disk rotatable about the axis and having an axial recess at its center in fluid communication with passages leading radially from the recess to ports at the periphery of the disk. The head can also include a rotatable fluidic oscillator and/or a solenoid valve operable to selectively obstruct the passage of the vent tube.
The aforementioned forms of the head are particularly suitable when the cleanser is not pressurized. However, the cleanser could be a pressurized vessel, such as in an aerosol can. In this case, the head can include an impeller rotatable about the axis with an axial opening at its center and oppositely facing nozzles at its end. Alternatively, the head can have a motorized deflector plate with a radial surface tapering toward its periphery and being rotatable about the longitudinal axis. The head could also be a stationary nozzle having a plurality of radially extending outlets. In any case, in a pressurized system, an electronically controlled solenoid valve is preferably used to meter out the cleanser.
The cup may be alternatively at the bottom of the device, with the motor above it, and the container above the motor. The dish can have opposing side openings below its top edge, with vanes inside it and/or flexible diffusion strings outside it. A drive shaft connected to the motor pulley drives the cup lid, which in turn drives the cup.
Another aspect of the invention is a method of automatically spraying a shower enclosure with a liquid cleanser. The method includes activating a timer on a sprayer to initiate a first countdown. At the expiration of the first countdown, the spraying device is activated automatically to spray cleanser onto side walls of the enclosure. The timer also automatically initiates a second countdown at the end of which the spray cycle is automatically terminated.
Where the metering cup is a substantially closed bowl with opposed spray exits on its sides, one of the exits can be of a different size or shape from the other (e.g. to provide a variety of spray patterns). Where the motor is positioned above the spray cup, the motor can be provided with a transmission linkage to the cup (to provide the option of multiple speeds), a sheath can act as a drive shaft for the cup""s lid and it can also surround a feed tube from the container to the spray cup, and a piercing seal can interlock with the container in a single use fashion.
Other optional features can also be added such as providing an adjustable length hanger, providing a caddy for shampoo and toiletries (e.g. over or at the side of the bottle position), providing a cup structure which resists spilling if inverted with some liquid in it, providing a pivot to allow the spray to be sprayed on a tilted angle, providing a partial shield to prevent spraying particular portions of the 360 degree arc which may have sensitive features, providing a sound chip so as to give an audio cue regarding the status of the operation, providing a motion sensor shut off to stop operation if a consumer enters the shower before the cycle is over, and providing a hanging mechanism suitable for hanging the device from a ceiling rather than a side wall.
Other aspects of the invention focus on the container alone. The container can have sufficiently rigid walls so as to withstand a partial vacuum (e.g. up to negative 3 psi). This is important as if the container walls inwardly deform a sufficient resistance may not develop in the container to prevent the contents from draining out entirely before the device is even used.
Another form of the container has a seal (e.g. an O-ring seal) around its periphery, or a mouth edge seal at its mouth top, that facilitates a sealed connection between the container and its nest. Again, this prevents premature over drainage.
The container can also be provided at its bottom with an integral soap dish having a support platform and drainage channel. A separate shower caddy is therefore not needed to hold the soap used during typical showers.
Still another form of the container has adjacent its mouth a flange selected from the group of a break-off flange and a pivotable flange. This provides for single use only of a container, to avoid the consumer refilling the bottle with inappropriate cleaners.
An important advantage of the invention is automated cleaning of enclosures. The touch of a button on the sprayer initiates a spray cycle that terminates automatically on completion, thereby freeing the user from monitoring or terminating the cleaning process.
Another advantage of the invention is to spray down all side walls of such an enclosure.
Another advantage of the invention is to make adding more cleanser to the sprayer quick and simple. The housing of the sprayer is shaped to conform to the upper portion of refill bottles of shower cleanser. Moreover, the housing includes an integral spike for puncturing the inner seal on the bottle as it is inserted in place. Replenishing the cleanser is simply a matter of removing the cap from a new bottle, inverting it, and loading it into the housing.
Yet another advantage of the invention is that the sprayer automatically meters out the proper volume of cleanser for each spray cycle. The volume can be easily altered for different sized enclosures by changing the timer to increase or decrease the duration of the spray cycle, or by changing the speed of rotation.
Still another advantage of the invention is that it is a stand alone device with its own pumping system using cleanser that is not mixed with water.
An additional advantage of the invention is that it can be removably mounted in the enclosure without damaging the walls.
These and other advantages of the invention will be apparent from the detailed description and drawings.